This mini episode teaches you two useful phrases: “for sale” and “on sale.”
Episode 188 of the Everybody ESL podcast is a mini episode that teaches you two similar phrases: “for sale” and “on sale.” Send your questions about English and your suggestions for future episodes to EverybodyESL@gmail.com! (And let me know if you’d like to record the introduction to a future episode.)
Intro
"Hello there! This is Dieredieufe Serigne Touba from Senegal, West Africa. You are listening to Everybody ESL."
Welcome to episode 188 of Everybody ESL, the podcast for everybody who wants to improve their English, practice their English, or just learn more English. My name is Ben, and I have a mini episode for you today, where I am going to teach you about one English topic. You can subscribe to the Everybody ESL podcast at Apple podcasts, on the Stitcher app, and wherever you find your podcasts. If you like Everybody ESL, leave it a good review so other people can find out about it too. And if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for me, please send an email to everybodyESL@gmail.com. Okay! Let's get on with this mini episode.
The episode
In this episode, I am going to teach you two phrases that look very similar but mean very different things. The two phrases are for sale (for sale: f-o-r s-a-l-e) and on sale (on sale: o-n s-a-l-e). For sale and on sale.
Those look very similar, but they mean completely different things.
Let’s start with for sale. What does for sale mean? For sale means “available to buy.” If something is for sale, that means you can buy it. When you go into a store, all of the things you see on the shelves are for sale. They are all things that you can buy.
Or let’s think about this situation. It might not be a very realistic situation, but I think it will help explain for sale. Let’s say that you are in the park, and you see somebody standing next to a beautiful motorcycle. And you ask this person, “Can I buy your motorcycle? I love it so much! Can I buy your motorcycle?” And the person says to you, “I’m sorry—my motorcycle is not for sale.” In other words, “You cannot buy my motorcycle. I’m not selling it. It is not available to you. You cannot buy it.”
What about on sale? On sale means “available to buy at a discount, available to buy at a lower price than usual.” You might go into a grocery store and see a sign that says, “Apples on sale.” That sign means “you can buy our apples at a lower price, you can buy apples at a discount.” On sale means “available to buy at a lower price or at a discount.”
To summarize this: if an item is for sale, that means you can buy it. It is available for you to buy. And if an item is on sale, you can buy it at a lower price, it is available for people to buy at a discount.
And that is for sale and on sale—two phrases that look very similar but mean different things.
Outro
And that's the end of episode 188 of Everybody ESL. Remember: if you have any questions about English, or if you have comments or suggestions about the podcast, or if you would like to record an introduction that I can use at the beginning of future episodes—the same way Dieredieufe recorded the introduction you heard at the beginning of this episode—send an email to everybodyESL@gmail.com. I'll be back soon with another episode, and until then, keep going, keep practicing, and keep learning. Goodbye. I'll see you soon.